I sometimes suffer from insomnia, and when that happens it's usually a learned behaviour with me, so it happens again the next night or a couple of nights later.

Having a spinal injury, adjusting myself in bed is 50/50, I could get very comfortable or very very uncomfortable, and when that happens it usually keeps me awake and doesn't put me in a good mood for sleep. I'm usually alone at night so assistance isn't always an option.

There's sometimes nothing worse than the nights that I can't sleep. I know my head injuries also play a part because sometimes I'm either too fatigued to fall asleep or too thoughtful to switch off.

I am really at a point of wanting to take something to help me sleep. I hate being sleep deprived, it throws off my confidence balance.

Does anyone know of something that helps them sleep? I'd prefer not to take anything herbal or any real sleeping meds. I'd rather a vitamin. But I'm willing to try any suggestion thrown at me, as long as it's okay for a person who has had head injuries.

Thanks so much.

[Lightrail11]

I find practicing mindfulness meditation using body scan helpful. If it doesn't work initially, I keep practicing over and over. Usually I fall asleep within 20 minutes or so.

http://www.mindfulnessinfo.com/exerc...scan-savasana/

Not to state the obvious but eliminate caffeine, alcohol, and heavy foods and vitamins for several hours prior to retiring for the evening. I also have a white noise machine to drown out distracting environmental noise. I’m sure others will have ideas that help for them also. Best to you.

[jinga]

I have run across a lot of articles that suggest a higher deficietncy in vit D seen in patients with head injury and related sleep disorder. I am having a tough time with insomnia - last night was latest example. I did have my vit d levels checked in spring and I was highly deficient but since then I have been on a vit D script and levels have risen. Not really helping with the sleep problems or at least not noticeable to date.

I am on elavil which works to make you drowsy enough to fall a sleep but there are nights that is seems to have no effect.

I like how you stated "too thoughtful to turn off" I assume you are having a lot of mind racing that keeps you awake. I also have this, I have described as if a radio is changing channels over and over. I do not remember any specific thoughts, so I do not believe it is worry over a particular situation in my life but rather my brain is doing some sort of brain dumb in the middle of the night and trying to sort through all of the sound bytes I have been receiving. not sure if that analogy makes sense but I am awake at a subconscious level and it makes for not very restful sleep.

[Theta Z]

Originally Posted by Lightrail11

I find practicing mindfulness meditation using body scan helpful. If it doesn't work initially, I keep practicing over and over. Usually I fall asleep within 20 minutes or so.

http://www.mindfulnessinfo.com/exerc...scan-savasana/

Not to state the obvious but eliminate caffeine, alcohol, and heavy foods and vitamins for several hours prior to retiring for the evening. I also have a white noise machine to drown out distracting environmental noise. I’m sure others will have ideas that help for them also. Best to you.

For 'white noise', I use a simple, 'box fan' to help with sleep; using it for years, every night, in all seasons of the year. (It's the soft-sound that's primary, not to put in a window or room to cool it.)

It works better for me than ear plugs for sleep, for it actually 'cancels out' (muffles) sounds disturbing at night. For example, be it occasional cars, the rumbling of big-rigs, jumbo jets when 'diverted' from usual-approaches into PNS, the heavy drop of pinecone on roof, the wild romp overhead of squirrels, baby raccoons, opossum, or nocturnal digging of an occasional passing-through armadillo in my flower beds, etc etc.

Melatonin, in my own experience only, did not work for me. I had a 'hyper' reaction and no sleep-inducing. I know it works well for many.

Magnesium citrate recommended by Mark, taken @ bedtime, I take also, and seems to help also with the constipation-side-effect of antidepressant, in my experience with it.

I've used passion flower and valerian and hops tinctures The dry-herbs capsules or tabs have never worked well stomachwise, for me lifelong. That's just me.

I do thank God for Rx lunesta. Fortunately my physician has been good about that for some months. Other docs may only do 30 day script, but certainly ask if you're inclined. I had to. It's being a lifesaver for me this year, Alleluia.

Have you tried taking a couple of just plain benadryl?

Take good care, ludupolo, and please keep us posted. Sleep is a big issue for many of us.

Theta

Thanks so much for your responses. I think most of the problems I have with sleep are due to noise in my area, so I have to be careful about what time I choose to go to sleep. It's quieter at some times more than other times. A fan usually drowns out a lot of noise but it hasn't been hot enough. Meditation is good when there are no noises that wake you back up again.

I'm going to start taking a multi-V, along with vitamin D and B and magnesium, and other things that I don't feel like listing, and a night vitamin maybe. I'm a vegetarian so I'm used to taking vitamins daily, but lately I have to admit that I've been lazy with them. And I've also been sick a whole lot! Going against my usual health regime, geesh.

And when 'insomnia' hits, I agree with you Jinja about the racing mind, however I seem to always remember the thoughts that keep me awake, so they're obviously things that bother me, things that I'd otherwise never think of if I wasn't so fragile from sleep deprivation... lol. There's also the thing that happens when you come in and out of sleep, and even though you've slept maybe 6-7 hours, you had no REM sleep at all, so it's the same difference.

I haven't tried melatonin or magnesium citrate. But, I bought some Valerian yesterday which gave me a wonderful night's sleep, however I'm still feeling rather groggy from them today I will keep using them though.